Tuesday, September 01, 2020

The Wind (1928)

The Wind is a 1928 silent drama film starring Lilian Gish. Wikipedia says, "it is one of the last silent films released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and is considered to be among the greatest silent films."

You can watch it online at this link. The sound track there is a strange addition, and I ended up muting it. It's a silent film, after all. Here's a trailer:


The Guardian highlights director Viktor Sjostrom, saying,
Between 1917 and 1921 he made four films of such technical mastery and luminous power that it was only a matter of time before Hollywood lured him across the water.

These films, full of the almost masochistic obsessions of Swedish Protestantism, but also extremely beautiful in their depiction of the elemental forces of nature, caused Sjostrom, together with his equally famous fellow director Mauritz Stiller, to be characterised as a gloomy Swede, even though he both acted in and made comedies too. And in America his three most famous works - He Who Gets Slapped (1924), The Scarlet Letter (1926) and The Wind (1928) - each dealt with human suffering.

The Wind is almost certainly the best - a silent classic...
Senses of Cinema says,
Widely considered one of the last great silent American films, Victor Sjöström’s The Wind is also one of the few Hollywood films that is truly alive to the elements, to the atmosphere and physicality of place. Sjöström’s career – both in Europe and America – is populated by films that examine the relationship of human characters to their environments.
Rotten Tomatoes has a critics consensus rating of 100%.

Here's a screenshot from the movie:


showing the sharing of a cuppa in the isolated wilds of Texas. She's newly arrived from Virginia to live with her cousin and his wife, and nothing is as she expected. I'll be more comfortable than they look as I join the bloggers at the weekly T Stand for Tuesday gathering.

17 comments:

  1. ...religion can be filled with masochistic obsessions!

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  2. She's so pretty. I just read up on Lillian Gish; a 75 year movie career. Let's raise our tea mugs to cheer that achievement on T for Tuesday.

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  3. Looks like a good film though the winds and dust remind me of the winds and snow that will soon be blowing here. I know how Lilian Gish's character feels. Happy T and 901 Day!

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  4. Good morning loved the drink reference, and will check out the silent movie
    Happy T wishes-did you get any of this rain that came through? we finally got a good amount

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    1. We did get some rain and a bit of wind but not nearly what I expected.

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  5. Such a great trailer, it really draws you into the story! Love how the captured the sand blowing against the windows - amazing 😁. Wishing you a very Happy T Tuesday! Hugs, Jo x

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  6. Sounds interesting. Happy T Day!☕☕☕

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  7. Is "The Wind" available for streaming? I tried looking on IMDB but it's not clear how to see it. Maybe from a library? It sounds fascinating.

    be well... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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    1. Yes, that link in the post takes you to a site where you can watch it.

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  8. I watched the trailer and it has caught my attention. Off to watch the whole film. Hope it was a super T day. Hugs-Erika

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  9. Interesting trailer.
    Happy tea Day,
    Kate

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  10. Wow. To imagine how much effort they must´ve put in there, I sure will have a look at the link/movie!
    Just imagine the producers/actors could watch a movie today! Reckon they´d be scared to death, LOL.

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  11. I've seen this film before. It's quite good, I think. I love Lillian Gish -- her face was made for the movies. I met her once when her autobiography came out and she did a book tour. I hope I still have it -- I loved that book, her life. And it's autographed. I was sort of speechless when I met her.

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    1. _I'm_ speechless you met her! What an experience!

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  12. This movie sounds good. Recently they made a remake of it, which was awful. (Ironically, I just donated that DVD to my library, for their annual book, etc. sale.) Happy Belated T-Day!

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  13. It certainly looks wild there! Lillian Gish had such an expressive face! Belated Happy T Day, Chrisx

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